by Maximilian C. Forte…The U.S. Embassy cables published by WikiLeaks present numerous very interesting stories about how Al Jazeera was brought to heel by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Embassy in Doha, and officials from Washington, used a variety of direct and indirect methods of ensuring a greater degree of compliance on the part of Read more
Continue ReadingTripoli military council’s leader asks for an apology from the US, UK by A. E. SOUAIAIA* For many Americans, the US-Islamic interaction is borne out of the 9-11-2001 attacks. For them, the Islamic world is a distant place full of extremists who dislike freedom. For that reason, the attacks seemed to be an act of Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* by Ahmed E. Souaiaia I vividly remember the day of the Oklahoma bombing. Not because of the news reports—I was too busy working and with school to watch the news. Consequently, I was not aware of what had happened that day until late in the afternoon. But as I walked Read more
Continue Readingby A. E. SOUAIAIA It was a mistake for President Obama to call Husni Mubarak on the fourth day of the Egyptian revolt, after nearly 100 people have died, to advise him for anything else but to step down and let a transitional leadership prepare for fair, transparent, and pluralistic elections. Instead, his reaching out Read more
Continue Readingby A. E. SOUAIAIA* It is true that Obama, as president, is the person responsible for foreign policy initiatives. However, it is the secretary of state who implements the vision of the administration and communicates it to foreign leaders in nuanced language that, at times, would seem as if it were a code. Hillary Clinton, Read more
Continue ReadingBY A. E. SOUAIAIA | GUEST OPINION | The Daily Iowan | JANUARY 24, 2011 7:10 AM During the first day of class, I asked students enrolled in my survey course on the Islamic civilization to think of an important event from around the world. The first student to speak pointed out the return of Read more
Continue Readingby AHMED E. SOUAIAIA By now, anyone who has followed the news coming out of Tunisia knows the timeline of events that culminated in Ben Ali fleeing the country and leaving his party struggling to regain control. But the end of Ben Ali’s era did not create a definite alternative. There is no consensus among Read more
Continue ReadingAs the number of people killed by Ben Ali’s security forces rises, victims’ family have reported that some of the fallen are citizens of European nations. The French Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that one of the victims killed in the central Tunisian town of Douz during Wednesday clashes was a dual French-Tunisian citizen. “We Read more
Continue ReadingBy A. E. SOUAIAIA• On cold winter days, Mohamed al-Bouazizi, a resident of Sidi Bouzid, loads his cart with fruits and vegetables and pushes it along the dusty streets of the town hoping to make enough money for himself and his family. One day, like many other days, police officers harassed him and then confiscated Read more
Continue ReadingThe Obama administration promised a new era with the Islamic world based on mutual respect and common interests. The US and the Islamic world must work together to end deadly extremism and dislocating suspicions. The global relations can be balanced when each side of the equation is also balanced. While the US administration must respect Read more
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